


There's gotta be a reason that I'm here on Earth

by Gigi_Bell



Series: Fantasy [13]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Apocalypse, Awkward Flirting, Byun Baekhyun-centric, Cute Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, End of the World, Eventual Romance, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mpreg, Natural Disasters, Post-Apocalypse, Sweet Park Chanyeol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:40:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28903533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gigi_Bell/pseuds/Gigi_Bell
Summary: The Earth changed when Baekhyun was young, and since then he’d been running from natural disasters, war, and the scariest of all - people.He was so used to running and being alone that he thought he’d never see someone kind again.Until Baekhyun hid out in Chanyeol’s barn and was met with a smile.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Series: Fantasy [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055237
Comments: 17
Kudos: 115





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work is solely mine, I do not allow stories to be posted on any other site, and any translations that are done will be posted here on my own page, I don’t allow my works to be posted under any other accounts.

Baekhyun could barely remember what life was like before this.

He could barely remember sitting in a classroom and telling stories with his friends. He thought he'd had a boyfriend before but he couldn’t be sure, just like how Baekhyun was pretty certain that he used to be good at cooking, but hadn’t tried to do it in so long.

Shit like that didn’t matter anymore. 

It hadn’t mattered in a very long time.

Not since the Earth shifted.

When he was sixteen years old a series of earthquakes began to rattle the world.

First it’d been Germany, then Chile, then America, and slowly, but surely, every place started experiencing these quakes.

They slowly began to happen more often, so much so that tsunamis began to overtake the coast and water levels began to rise, people began to drown and soon enough islands like Japan were wiped out - just like that, gone. All of their people with it.

Things had been happening so quickly that the media couldn’t keep up with all the deaths and destruction.

People had become crazed with panic, they began to loot and steal.

 _“The beginning of the end,”_ the churches had called it. They said it was the fault of all the sinners in the world, and God was striking them all dead to start over. Baekhyun always thought that claim was _bullshit,_ and the churches were bullshit too, because they didn’t do shit but try and cover their own sins under disguises of labeling others.

Shortly after paranoia began volcanic eruptions began next. Lucky for him, there weren’t any near him enough for him to be struck by them, but he’d seen the videos. He’d seen the news replaying towns of ash, the sky had been so coated it wasn’t possible to even _look_ for survivors, because the rescuers would suffocate.

Politics caused the next wave of events even when the Earth seemed to be calming down with time between natural disasters mellowing; countries argued for survival, they disagreed and caused more chaos with wars and violence.

There were two years of astronomical wars and leftist ideas. Police were nonexistent, there was no order, there was _nothing_ but people. And death. And violent.

Many tried to seek shelter with groups, but groups were more like cults with far off ideas of repopulating the Earth at whatever cost.

Crime was rampant and there was no order. Baekhyun hid away, he stuck to the shadows and never looked behind him as he ran, because there was no point, he had to keep going forward.

The population dwindled and dwindled; Baekhyun could remember the days when he used to walk home from school and saw hundreds of people.

These days he was grateful not to see any on a good day. Because he’d spent _ten_ years in this mess now, and he was glad to see single travelers from afar, to climb into abandoned buildings and hide by himself.

But he’d gotten caught, and it wasn’t for the first time, but this was certainly the worst. So he was running. 

He had to keep running. 

His head was hurting because it must have been miles since he’d last risked stopping to drink from his bottle of water and he wasn’t risking being jumped again.

Not because of who he was - but instead _what he was._ He couldn’t stop because of his slim frame, the hourglass shape of his body, and small stature; it was obvious.

Baekhyun wasn’t going to be caught dead being lured into a gang of survivors, not as a _carrier,_ and certainly not to be their whore.

He never understood why things were like this. Why children, women, and carriers were the ones that had died out first. 

Originally, Baekhyun thought it was because they were weaker, because non-carrier men had more testosterone and were “stronger” or more aggressive in their fight for survival. 

Baekhyun didn’t know how much truth was to that thought because he was a carrier, and he _fought hard._ He killed and he’d lived for ten years, eight of it alone once his parents had passed - but he preferred not to think of that.

In the end, maybe the world just wasn’t fit for women, children, or carriers and Baekhyun couldn't disagree with that because there were plenty of times he wanted to give up, times where he’d held a knife to his skin and debated with tears crawling down his face.

He didn’t want to forever be chased around and recruited with false lies because he was _aware_ things wouldn’t be as promised.

Not for him at least. Not for a carrier that was nothing more than a way to repopulate.

Baekhyun was tired - exhausted really.

The forest he had been running from seemed to stretch for miles and he was _certain_ he’d lost the gang that had been tailing him, but he wouldn’t risk turning around to find out.

So he’d run, like he'd been doing for years. 

***

Chanyeol heard the cows start up from across the farm. It was loud and that alone was an unusual occurrence since it was late and it was dark out.

There was no reason for the cows to be going insane when he’d locked them up in the barn hours before.

Perhaps they were running low on hay or something, or perhaps a stupid squirrel was going around and terrorizing them again, because it always seemed to happen.

The house wasn’t really equipped for all his animals and he knew he’d need to rig up the barn better, because there were wolves and bears in the forest, and his animals were fresh prey.

Perhaps he was just stupid to have run away to his families cottage and start fresh out there rather than living off packaged food. It had taken three years to find all of these animals, and it took even longer for him to build the barn from scratch, so it wasn’t that good.

Chanyeol wasn’t a farm boy before this, but in the beginning he'd had help creating his home… until he was alone, again.

 _Whatever,_ he sighed and was tugging his boots on, because he wouldn’t be able to sleep with all the noise.

Chanyeol cringed at how loud his front door squeaked but kept forgetting to fix it, he was always too distracted.

“I’ll do it tomorrow,” He mumbled to himself, hitting the side of his old red truck as if going about his normal routine despite it being so late.

The chickens were rushing towards the fence as soon as they saw him as if getting re-fed and it made Chanyeol laugh.

He never considered chickens that cute before all of this, but he’d take what he could get to amuse himself and not have to look at the _blaring_ issue he pushed away all the time.

That he was always alone.

With an annoyed groan at all the ruckus inside the barn Chanyeol pushed the door open, but as soon as he did so he noticed something very strange.

The hay stacks beside the door were making noise. The wheezing noises from between the stacks of hay were concerning so Chanyeol curled his fist at the ready, just in case, and was silently praying he didn’t have a bad intruder again because this wouldn’t go well without his gun.

“Excuse me,” Chanyeol walked around the corner towards the noise, eyes widening concern at the sight. 

A man was lying against the back corner of the barn, huffing and puffing, a knife held tightly in his hand on his chest for defense.

It wasn’t a cause for him to be worried for his _own_ safety because this man was small, and perhaps Chanyeol was stereotyping - but the brunette had to be a carrier - he was exhausted if his bobbing eyes and sweat covered form said anything. 

Chanyeol hadn’t seen anyone he deemed a non-threat in a long time, much less any carriers, so he smiled really big and released an excited laugh. 

Plus, the man was eyeing him not with fear, but with a beg in his eyes, wheezing as he rolled over onto his side in the hay.

_“Please help me.”  
_

***

When Baekhyun woke up it was to the sound of a woman laughing, so he jolted, grabbing his own shoulders for a knife from his bag, but instead jumping with alert when he found his backpack was _missing_ and that he was only wearing his undershirt and jeans.

Baekhyun scrambled to look around the room.

It was an actual room. It had been so long since he'd seen a room inside of a home. Baekhyun tried not to go into houses when scavenging, because it was too personal to people. And he felt it would be disrespectful. 

The thought was laughable at best, but Baekhyun _tried_ to keep a bit of kindness in himself.

He was in a beautiful room, one with dark wood log paneling and picture frames, a dresser and clothes resting on top of it.

He didn’t want to assume they were for him, but he got up to touch them anyway, to smell the clean scent on them.

They smelled like honey.

Baekhyun nearly thought he was going _insane_ because the place was untouched and not destroyed as with every other building he’d been in. He did manage a smile though, mostly because he thought he was going crazy. 

Until he opened the door and found a living room looking just as lived in, and could hear cows _mooing_ outside.

It was a lot to take in, it was beautiful.

Baekhyun wrapped his arms around himself as he shuffled out, bare, bruised feet feeling the cool of the wood floors as he walked into the living area.

There was a television in the corner and stacks on stacks of movies, audio tapes, and television cds, it made him laugh under his breath as he watched the woman on the television laugh.

But, he heard a more pressing shuffling to his right and twisted to look with alert eyes.

Baekhyun had been too groggy to really take in the man from the day before, to really acknowledge him, but all he knew was that it _wasn’t_ one of the people who had followed him and in the moment that had been more than enough.

In fact, this man had a huge smile on his face and a remote in his hand as he turned around to look at him from the small kitchen space not separated from the living room. 

He turned the volume down on the television, “Sorry. I like the noise… makes it.. not so… you know.” 

_Lonely,_ Baekhyun wanted to add, but his stomach growled with hunger and he winced, crossing his arms over his stomach.

“Oh! Oh, I’m sorry. I was just making breakfast. Take a seat, go ahead,” The man worried, pointing to the couch.

Baekhyun was in no condition to say no and was quick to take the offer, watching the man's every move.

He was large, that was saying nothing to truly admire his figure, because he was built and muscular. Baekhyun would be lying if he said he wasn’t admiring him because _most_ men with this build weren’t this kind.

They wouldn’t have left his pants on and put him in a warm bed. 

They would have done far worse.

“T-Thank you..” Baekhyun croaked, voice a bit dry even though he recalled downing a glass of water before he’d passed out.

He wondered if this man was the one that held him up as he drank it, because he couldn’t remember all that much.

“I’m Chanyeol, I mean.. Park Chanyeol, but last names don’t really matter much anymore, you know. Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve had to say that, especially to-“ Chanyeol cut himself off with a light blush when Baekhyun released an airy laugh at his rambling, nervously passing the smaller a plate before taking a seat on the other end of the couch, “Sorry. It’s been a while.” 

_I can relate,_ Baekhyun internally mused, but instead gasped and picked a strawberry off his plate, eyeing all of the greens and produce on it, “You have fruit? And vegetables?” 

“I have a garden out back,” Chanyeol laughed, scratching the back of his neck, “I have meat too, freezing at the moment, but we can have it for dinner until I butcher another.” 

Baekhyun must have looked like a savage as he shoved a berry into his mouth and moaned, tears flooding his eyes as it’d been such a long time without something this satisfying.

“Your backpack was soaking wet, that and your shirt are drying outside.. I.. I would have cleaned your bottoms.. but..” 

_But I’m a carrier._

The small thought made Baekhyun refocus and realize how rude he was being when this man was being so considerate, swallowing his mouthful, “Baekhyun. My name.. is Byun Baekhyun. Thank you, I - I don’t mean to cause you trouble or..” 

“It’s really no issue!” 

Chanyeol had a really beaming smile, long fingers tapping against his knee in an impatient sort of way as if he’d burst with energy soon. “I couldn’t just leave you there! You could get sick in the barn like that, it’s for animals, silly! You could have just knocked!” 

Such a thing wasn’t easy for someone like Baekhyun though, to risk knocking, but he did smile a bit at the tease because it’d been a long time he’d had company let alone been called something as childish as _silly._

Baekhyun laughed and shook his head, “Trust me, it wasn’t really my intention to hide out.” 

Chanyeol must have read something from his expression because he just smiled kindly, no longer looking quite as nervous, “Well. I don’t care about the reason, I just hope that we can get along well.” 

Baekhyun’s eyes shook a bit at that, lips frowning, “Just that easily? You’d let me stay here just so fast?” 

“I don’t see why not… unless you’re like.. gonna kill me or something, are you?”

It was a teasing tone and made Baekhyun relax a bit more, steadying the plate in his lap, “I only kill people that try to hurt me. I run if I can’t win.” 

Chanyeol looked at him with pity and didn’t say anything for a moment, he stood up and shuffled towards the front door to kneel down, pulling out a pair of worn brown rain boots and began putting them on, “Lucky for you, if you can’t win then maybe I can.” 

Baekhyun flushed and looked down at the carrots on his plate with false interest because of the eyes shooting looks at his face.

“Don’t worry, I know I’m a strange man, but I’m no shitty person. I’m not going to hurt you, you’re safe here.” He heard Chanyeol murmur, “Let me know when you’re done eating and I’ll show you around, Baekhyun.”

It was odd, because when Chanyeol walked out of the door Baekhyun felt less relaxed than he did with the man standing there. 

Or maybe it was just his imagination.

Maybe the food was going to his head.

***

“Can I do that?” Baekhyun shuffled awkwardly, wringing his hands together from his spot on the couch. “Can I do it?” 

Chanyeol peeked his head around the corner with a nearly shocked look, eggshells in his hand, “I thought you were sleeping. You're really quiet.” 

Baekhyun chewed on his lip, because he had been sleeping all day. A bed was so comfortable, he'd forgotten what they were like so he spread out like a starfish and slept his entire first day away.

“I.. I think I used to cook… sometimes…” 

Chanyeol's smile spread and he tossed the shells into the trash and playfully threw his arms up, “Well I’m certainly not going to say no to not making my own meal for once! Have at it!” 

Baekhyun giggled and shuffled off the couch, pulling Chanyeol’s long shirt over his shorts. They were both way too big for him, but they were _clean_ and that’s all he cared about.

He waited until Chanyeol got out of the tiny kitchen before going inside, digging in all drawers until he found a fork to whisk up some eggs.

He felt so _odd._ It’d been so long since he'd had something as simple as an omelet, or something like _rice._

But Chanyeol had been here.. so long? With food and a garden and animals? There was fresh _milk_ in the fridge, and he had a basket of vegetables on the counter… Baekhyun was envious.

It was hard not to be - he'd been running off of bags of chips and if he were lucky canned beans. He ate so many packaged goods that he was dehydrated most of the time from the sodium intake. 

Baekhyun knew he was thin, even _if_ he found a lot of good snacks to eat he worked off the calories carrying around a backpack full of water bottles and a worn blanket - ready to sleep whenever he felt the need to pass out. 

He was jealous of the fact that Chanyeol wasn’t sickly thin. He was jealous that Chanyeol had a bed and was healthy. 

But, something they could relate to was more pressing to Baekhyun than bothering Chanyeol for details of his life.

They were both very lonely.

“Do you like bell peppers in your omelet, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun mumbled, voice dry from underuse, peering into the living room. 

Chanyeol wasn’t looking, he was staring at the movie on the television and mouthing the words, he had a blanket pulled around his shoulders and his eyes were wide.

Baekhyun found the sight comforting… but so sad.

The carrier didn’t consider himself _too_ lonely. Before all of this Baekhyun was more of an introvert, but that didn’t mean he _disliked_ people. It just meant he wanted his space often.

So even if he was lonely before this, maybe it was a little easier on him compared to Chanyeol, because he could tell how badly the man wanted to speak. 

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun carried the bowl he was stirring with him into the living room, “How old are you?” 

Chanyeol blinked a bunch before he looked at him wide eyed, a light pink to his ears. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t ignoring you, I swear. What did you say?”

“I just asked how old you were,” Baekhyun smiled, “And what you liked in your eggs - these aren’t very important questions, Chanyeol.” He teased and turned back into the kitchen.

_“Oh!”_

Baekhyun couldn't help stepping back a bit when Chanyeol stood up quickly - it was just in him to be careful around larger people than him.

He noticed it looked like he’d hurt Chanyeol's feelings because the man dropped his smile a bit, but he quickly put it back on as he moved to sit at the dining table beside the kitchen. 

“I'm twenty five, I was born in November 1992, how old are you, Baekhyun? Also, I like anything - but you should eat some meat. There’s some bacon in the fridge, I found it at this market, still in a freezer, can you believe that? I took the key for the place, because it’s one of those metal, barred doors, and I’ve been going there for years!” 

That was a lot of talking, so Baekhyun had to take a minute to think as he opened the fridge and felt his mouth watering as he grabbed things from it.

“Um… I’m twenty six.. I think. I was born in May. But I don’t know what month it is now-“

“It’s July!” 

“Oh,” Baekhyun whispered, frowning to himself, “I guess it’s been a while since I saw a calendar or something.” He said quietly. 

It was silent for a moment before Chanyeol was chuckling loudly, “We should have a birthday for you.” He said decidedly. 

_“What!”_ Baekhyun startled, “No, no… it’s fine- it’s fine..” 

“Nonsense, I’ll put a hat on the cows and everything!” 

Baekhyun tossed a hand over his mouth, bursting into laughter with his back to Chanyeol, but he was relieved the man was only messing with him. He was giggling and fiddling with finding a cutting board. “Ah, that would be so funny.” 

“The chickens would ruin it, they’re so loud all the time - and for _what!_ Geez, I swear those things would eat all the seed away in one sitting if they had a choice.” 

Chanyeol was _really_ cute. Baekhyun decided right then and there that the man was really cute even if he was a bit odd.

What was normal now anyway? Certainly not them giggling over chickens being loud and cows in hats. 

Baekhyun didn’t mind. Truthfully, he just liked Chanyeol’s voice, so he'd listen to any weird thing he wanted to talk about.

***

_“No! No, move! This is our breakfast, stupid!”_ Baekhyun screamed down towards his ankles.

He heard a laugh and whined that he’d gotten caught.

“Baek, they're chickens and can’t understand you,” Chanyeol snorted, pulling open the fence and shooing the chickens away from Baekhyun’s ankles.

The carrier held a bunch of eggs in his top, making sure the brown eggs didn’t go rolling out, “I know, but they’re just _so_ rude!”

“They’re still getting used to you; I am proud though, you didn’t drop any this time, a week of practice did you some good. Told you they wouldn’t peck you.” 

Baekhyun blushed and pouted at the reminder because he was more scared of the chickens in the beginning rather than the cows that were much larger.

They were just _so_ scary though, making all that noise and crowding around his feet, he didn’t want to step on any of them.

“Want to milk the cow, or is it my turn?” 

Baekhyun found himself blushing much more than he should these days and wrote it off as him being socially awkward more than him thinking Chanyeol's voice was so fitting for his handsome face. 

He looked up at the man and found him smiling proudly whilst leaning against a beat up old truck, arms crossed and it pulled his tee around his arms more than normal to show his muscles.

For a farm boy Baekhyun liked that he didn’t dress it, although he wouldn’t have minded a flannel thrown utop the skin tight shirts because it would lessen all the staring he did at the man. 

_Lies_ because he stared at Chanyeol's face too. 

“I actually… I think I’m going to do some laundry if that’s okay..” 

Chanyeol never seemed to care if he was really doing anything.

“Of course! Yeah, there’s some watered down soap in the bathroom and a wooden bucket I use to do laundry up under the kitchen sink. Have at it. I’ll be inside in a little.” 

Baekhyun grinned shyly, stumbling through the opened door of the cottage.

Things were odd, but all he knew was that Chanyeol was a genius or something. 

He’d hooked up electricity to the tiny cottage, built all the farming land, and brought all these animals in, it was _amazing._ But he also did do things the old fashioned way like hand washing and collecting rainwater because he claimed the cows liked it more. 

Chanyeol was a bit odd but in an adorable way.

Baekhyun was just happy because this life was _so_ much more fulfilling than eating chips for every meal and still going to sleep hungry in a broken down room.

He was grateful the man had let him in.

Baekhyun was so busy learning about Chanyeol that he didn’t realize until now that he _stunk._ Like really bad.

Smelling himself was something he’d grown immune to because he didn’t get time to clean up much when he was running. 

Baekhyun soon groaned because he realized if he knew _he_ stunk then _Chanyeol_ definitely knew he stunk.

_Fuck._

He was quickly rushing to grab a pair of clean clothes - Chanyeol's, because everything in his backpack needed to be washed up - and jumping into the bathroom to clean up.

He was being as fast as he could because he had things to get done before Chanyeol was finished with the chores for today and he didn’t want to use all the hot water from the sink.

It must have been at the speed of light because when he was out and redressing he didn’t hear the other inside - and Chanyeol was _loud_ so he would know.

Getting back to work and nearly tripping over the end of Chanyeol's pants on himself, he tossed all of his clothes into the bucket of water.

Baekhyun went roaming around the living room to make sure he wasn’t missing anything that needed to be cleaned.

As he rounded the corner to check the small window seat he tended to sit in he stepped on soft fabric, it was a blanket on the floor. There was a pillow beside it and Baekhyun had a sinking feeling when he realized Chanyeol had been _sleeping_ on the floor.

He’d given up his bed for Baekhyun. 

The carrier had figured it was because Chanyeol slept on the couch since he stayed up late to watch old movies, but Baekhyun was now understanding how uncomfortable that would be for Chanyeol’s long legs.

Baekhyun felt a rush of emotions that twisted his insides up as he swooped down to collect them - washing them was the least he could do - then he walked back over to plop down onto the floor and begin to scrub them with a bottle of honey scented soap beside him.

Chanyeol smelled like honey all the time, and even if the scent faded Baekhyun hadn’t thought the other smelled bad at all, he just always looked and smelled good.

Much better than Baekhyun with his self done haircut and stinky self. Baekhyun was internally crying.

After about the ten minutes he heard the man outside, the heavy and sounding feet clanking on wood before the door was flung open and the familiar dimpled smile was seen.

“I think one of our cows is pregnant! Isn’t that amazing? I was hoping to butcher one soon, but now I just feel too bad and don’t want to risk anything!” 

Chanyeol was really something. Something that made his heart race and his face blush. Baekhyun wrote it off as him being nervous from not having been around people much.

Baekhyun smiled, legs spread on either side of the bucket, “That’s great, Chanyeol,” He said, pushing back the long sleeves of his top.

Chanyeol laughed and jumped onto the couch to watch him, leaning his elbows onto spread knees in a position that made him look _too_ handsome if such a thing was possible, “I need to find you new clothes, huh? I guess I’ll have to venture to town soon.” 

“Oh, it’s fine. I-I don’t mind,” Baekhyun muttered, shaking his head.

“I don’t want you to fall and get hurt, that would make me feel bad. I need to find you some new shoes anyway, I know the perfect place- don’t worry! It would take like two hours tops!” 

Baekhyun chewed his lip in an attempt to keep himself from feeling flustered at the words, kicking his foot and watching how the long fabric fell over his feet before smiling, “I guess it would be nice not to fall over even if it’s comfortable.” 

“Those are my favorites,” Chanyeol grinned, “You look very nice in them though, so I don’t mind at all.” 

Truly, Baekhyun wasn’t even sure if the man knew what he was saying or doing to him. 

Chanyeol just seemed so friendly and it wasn’t doing good things to his heart because he wanted Chanyeol to be that way to him only - _what the hell was he thinking?_

Baekhyun needed a good smack.

“Can I go?” Baekhyun whispered, “I want to watch out for any men, I don’t… I mean.. I don’t think they would do anything to _you_.. but I don’t want you stuck in my mess.” 

The man didn’t reply for a moment, so Baekhyun busied picking up the wet clothes and laying them on a windowsill as he’d seen Chanyeol do before, carefully ensuring the beam of light was in them. 

“Baekhyun.” 

Chanyeol sounded very serious and it made the smaller nervous, brushing his wet hair behind both ears nervously and fiddling with his sleeves.

“I want to tell you something, sit down please.” 

The carrier sucked on his lip the entire walk over, watching his feet to make sure he didn’t step on the long bottoms as he planted himself on the couch, shifting to bring his feet up to his chest facing Chanyeol.

“This cabin, it was my mother’s,” The man murmured softly and Baekhyun released a soft gasp when Chanyeol reached over to roll up the bottom of his pajama pants, “He was a carrier, like you, and he… he lost my father before all of this. I lived with him in the city for a bit, before the buildings started being looted and we came here. I left for one day and.. came back and he’d been.. attacked and killed in the forest.” 

Baekhyun’s lip trembled both with sympathy and fear about this topic, reaching down to grab Chanyeol's fingers from his pants and shifting to sit on his heels.

“I just want to let you know that I’m not going to let that happen again - not with you, not.. on my watch. The chances are so rare nowadays. They’re so rare because there’s not so many people, but I still want you to be cautious.” 

The carrier nodded as fast as he could, opening his mouth but all that came out was a bubble of a whimper leaving his throat, both hands clutching Chanyeol's to his chest.

“M-My.. parents both.. suicide.. I-I was alone at.. sixteen..” 

Chanyeol clicked his tongue and brought his empty hand up to wipe Baekhyun’s tears away, shaking his head, “I don’t know why they’d do that and leave a carrier alone.. in a place like this, but I’m sure they were just afraid.” 

Baekhyun sobbed silently, nails digging into the others palm as he blubbered, _“But I’m scared too.”_

“Come here. Come here, don’t worry now.” Chanyeol fussed, tugging him into his arms and hugging him, “Sh. It’s okay, I have plans. Me and you, we’re experienced and we’re going to be safe. I-I… I have plans, don’t worry.”

***

The town was looted pretty badly, but it wasn’t as destroyed as some of the places Baekhyun had seen before. 

It was empty and the stores were falling apart, but Chanyeol still took him there in his old red truck. 

Chanyeol didn’t lie about having a key to a barred up store, but Baekhyun hadn’t expected it to be a _shopping center._

It was huge, and it was looted and filthy, but he only cared about the clothes anyway, although Chanyeol had cried about wanting more chocolate and ran off down the candy aisle.

He was more a child than a man, but it made Baekhyun laugh. 

“Baekhyun! What type of candies do you like?” 

Baekhyun smiled and shook his head with a laugh as he tugged clothes off their hangers to shove into his duffle bag. “I like anything, Chanyeol!” 

_“Yah! Tell me the truth!”_

“Fine!” Baekhyun giggled to himself and threw his bag onto his shoulder, groaning at the weight, “I’m into dark chocolate! Don’t you argue with me over if it tastes bad, I like it!”

“It does taste bad!”

The carrier burst into laughter and walked behind the counter of the registers to dig through the “adult” shelves. Baekhyun wasn’t one for cigarettes or alcohol, but sometimes he liked a good drink to sleep well at night.

He didn’t think he’d need it though, because he slept just fine at the house, in Chanyeol's bed.

“Are you going to get alcohol?” 

Baekhyun grinned and shook his head, turning back to see Chanyeol placing his own bag onto the countertop. “Nope, but I can check you out if you want.” He giggled and pressed a button on the cash register, playfully reaching out for his things. 

“I check you out all the time.” 

It took about two seconds for Baekhyun to register what Chanyeol said and he began to laugh loudly when the man's ears turned red and his eyes widened. “No! I didn’t mean-“

“You don’t think I’m nice looking?”

“No, I _do!”_

“So you _do_ check me out then,” Baekhyun teased, taking his lip between his teeth and coming around the counter with a giggly smile. “Chanyeol, you naughty b-“

“Oh god,” Chanyeol walked past him with his ears bright red, “Let’s just go.” 

Baekhyun couldn't control his laughter as he followed him out, knees shaking and practically wheezing as he waited for Chanyeol to pull the metal door down and lock up the shop. 

“Chan,” Baekhyun eye smiled, “I think you’re handsome too, don’t worry.” 

Chanyeol's face turned less embarrassed and more relieved then, he smiled shyly and reached over to take Baekhyun’s bag off his shoulder as they walked across the broken road towards the truck. “Yeah?”

“Mhm.” Baekhyun blushed a bit and opened the backseat to climb in and shove some other supplies they’d collected away to make room. “I’m not blind, Chanyeol, you must have been really popular, huh?” 

“No. No,” Chanyeol laughed a bit as he tossed their things into the backseat, having to lean over Baekhyun’s lap. “Not really at all actually. I used to be like.. _different.”_

“Different, hm?” Baekhyun mused, eyeing Chanyeol's profile, feeling the warmth of his chest against his legs. 

“Yeah.” The man glanced at him for a moment before sitting back and grabbing the car door frame, leaning against it. “I mean, when shit went down I was like.. fifteen, and I used to be… a bit weird. And chubby. I wasn’t made fun of, but I wasn’t really like _this_ at all.”

The carrier really couldn’t picture it, but one thing Baekhyun was completely sure of was that Chanyeol must have been adorable. 

_“Cute.”_ He commented, brushing his long hair behind his ear, “I’m sure you were incredibly cute, Chanyeol.” 

“You think so?” 

Baekhyun eyed his cute little dimple and lopsided smile. “Defin-“

The sound of a motorcycle cut him off, and fear began to swim in Baekhyun’s veins, making tears spring to his eyes immediately. 

_“Shit.”_

Chanyeol grabbed his shoulder and yanked him down onto the floorboard of the backseat. Baekhyun squeaked but his eyes widened as Chanyeol pressed into his back and yanked the bags over spine. 

They were heavy and it hurt, but Baekhyun didn’t care, he just balled up and saw Chanyeol’s hand beside his face reaching under the seat.

Baekhyun breathed heavily onto Chanyeol’s palm, feeling sweat begin to form on his skin because it was so hot out, but he watched the long hands pull a black container out from under the seat.

He should be shocked that Chanyeol owned guns, but he really wasn’t, it just filled him with relief to see the three pistols lined up in the case.

“You know how to shoot?”

Baekhyun gave a stiff nod, hands shaking as he saw Chanyeol grab a silver pistol out. 

The man's fingers brushed over his temple before Chanyeol was yanking back and slamming the backseat door.

He felt more relieved with Chanyeol pressing into him than knowing he was outside of the truck and that the motorcycle was so close. But at least now he had access to a gun, so Baekhyun tried not to move too much as he reached over for one.

_“Hey, man!”_

The carrier's hair stood on end, his heart was beating with worry at the deep, ragged voice. It sounded rough from cigarettes. 

“Hey, if you’re looking for food, these places are all out, I was about to check out the town over.” Chanyeol lied, Baekhyun jumped when he heard the metal of the truck get tapped a bit.

_“ ‘m lookin’ for a carrier - bout five eight, brunette, got a pretty face.”_

“Oh yeah?” Baekhyun swallowed at the slight edge to Chanyeol’s tone, “I’m sure if I saw a carrier I’d have him by now,” Chanyeol laughed dryly. 

Baekhyun cried harder when laughter boomed loudly outside the car, the sick, nasally laughter made him clench his fists and sick to his stomach.

_“Amen to that! If you find the whore bring him back here when you’re done with him, ight?”_

“Sure. I’ll bring you the bitch.” 

It felt like an hour of being crushed in the floorboard before Baekhyun felt Chanyeol getting into the front seat and realistically it had only been a minute or two, but he felt like he was having a breakdown

Baekhyun sat up in the backseat when Chanyeol had been driving for a minute or two, hair standing up, sweat rolling down his temple.

He coughed a bit and wiped the tears off his face as he put the gun back into its case under the seat.

“You didn’t say you had guns,” Baekhyun mumbled, wiping his eyes with his palms.

“I meant to show them to you, just in case.” Chanyeol's voice sounded strained. 

Baekhyun pressed his lips together and turned to look out the window at the broken down buildings. An entire block was broken down and he wondered if Chanyeol used to live in this town or further away. “Aren't you going to ask me how he knew about me?”

Chanyeol didn’t respond.

“I… I was just walking,” The carrier mumbled, fiddling with his fingers, “It’s really scary for me, you know? Like… going out at night, but I was _so_ hungry… I walked into a gas station and found a bag of snacks, as if someone forgot them. I didn’t know it was _theirs._ One of them saw me, he told me that I had to _“repay”_ them for eating the food… I'm not stupid. I’ve been doing this for years, I’ve been caught a bunch of times, I killed him - well… I-it was an accident really… he grabbed me and I panicked and then ran. I’ve gone this long without being raped I’m not about to give up now-“

The car _jerked_ to a stop _._ Baekhyun had to grab the back of the front seat so he didn’t go flying into it, gawking in shock as Chanyeol jumped out of the car.

 _“Chanyeol!”_ Baekhyun yelled, eyes wide in disbelief as Chanyeol paced outside the car.

He quickly shoved the door open and slid out, confused, “Yeol, what are you doin-“

_“I’m so sorry.”_

Baekhyun frowned and shook his head, “For what?” He asked, reaching a hand out to grab Chanyeol’s forearm. “It’s getting dark out, Chanyeol, we should-“

“I-I can’t believe I said that.” 

Baekhyun swallowed, shushing a bit and tugging Chanyeol closer to the car. “No, no, you’re not like them-“

“Oh my god.” Chanyeol's eyes were blown wide as he ran an anxious hand through his hair, “Did you _hear me?_ What the _fuck._ I didn’t have to say that - you're not a bitch- oh god... I wouldn’t ever treat you like that-“

 _“Chanyeol.”_ Baekhyun reached up to grab his face, laughing a small bit. He wasn’t shocked that Chanyeol was freaking out about this, but he was so touched that his eyes were a bit watery because Chanyeol’s were teary, as if he was going to sob second. “You’re _so_ sweet. Sh, I know you were just pretending. I know, don’t worry.” 

“Did.. did you _hear_ him?” Chanyeol laid hands on the red car beside Baekhyun’s head, “I should’ve killed him - I won’t ever let them touch you.. and… and-“

 _“Oh god,”_ Baekhyun laughed and tugged him into a hug when he saw Chanyeol sniffle, “You're just a big baby. It’s _okay,_ Chanyeol. It’s okay. I’m not upset.” 

“B-But you _should be.”_

Baekhyun couldn't argue that. He was just so used to these sort of events, incidents, or implications that he was immune to it. 

“Let me drive home,” He mumbled quietly, petting the back of Chanyeol’s hair, “You should take a nap, you big, adorable baby.” 

***

Baekhyun chewed on his lip as he looked out the window, watching the cows feed along the edge of the fence.

The one Chanyeol thought was pregnant unfortunately wasn’t and he felt angry the cow wasn’t because the man had gotten _so_ happy thinking it was.

It was so sad to see Chanyeol sulk the day away when he said she unfortunately wasn’t.

The carrier sighed and dug his toes into the wood frame of the window seat, sleeve covered fingers pressed to his lips, eyeing the animals.

At least animals had lives that weren’t quite as stressful as theirs. They could just eat grass all day and not fuss at all.

“What are you looking at out there?” 

Baekhyun startled with a quiet squeak, shifting to turn his head towards the living room where Chanyeol stood - shirtless and towel in hand as he dried his hair.

The carrier quickly felt his chest pinken, “I was looking at the fence. I’m worried the wind will take it down.” 

Chanyeol smiled, looking at the carrier in the window frame with something akin to fondness, words of affection sitting on the tip of his tongue before he just said, “Oh. I was looking for that shirt. Looks better on you anyway.” 

“Oh..” Baekhyun whispered, pulling the sleeves over his fingers, “Thank you. I thought I grabbed a lot of tops when we went last week, but I already ran out. I’m too lazy to do laundry right now. Maybe we should go back to town.” 

“I can go to town,” Chanyeol muttered, “And I don’t mind. Don’t ever stop wearing my things, I think you’re adorable.” 

The carrier released a soft choking noise to himself, pressing his hands together in his lap with a soft smile.

Baekhyun didn’t like the idea of Chanyeol going to town alone, but he understood why he’d want to. Baekhyun just didn’t want him to leave anyway, not even for just a day. 

Anything could happen if Chanyeol went alone - the truck getting stuck or running out of gas, a storm, maybe running into people… _again._

Baekhyun didn’t want any of those things.

“Do you want me to cut your hair for you? Since you mentioned it the other day? I already cut up carrots to boil later for stew…” Chanyeol trailed off, tossing his towel into a basket beside the bathroom. 

Baekhyun grinned, “Yes please.” 

It took little to no time for Chanyeol to find the right scissors and Baekhyun to walk over and take a seat on the floor so the man could sit behind him.

Sweeping away the hair on the wood would be much easier than anything else.

“How do you want it?”

Baekhyun had to keep himself from wanting to lean back against Chanyeol's chest as the man sat behind him, long legs spreading around Baekhyun’s hips and his thighs against the outside of the carriers. 

It was so hard not to just lay against him when Chanyeol was so close and warm, Baekhyun could feel all the heat pouring off of Chanyeol’s shirtless chest.

“However you think is best….” 

He felt the vibrations from Chanyeol when the other hummed in acknowledgement and felt a chill roll down his spine when a comb was being run through his hair.

It’d been so long he’d been pampered like this and it made him laugh to himself.

“What are you laughing at, silly?” Chanyeol cooed, smiling as he peeked at Baekhyun’s profile, bending his right knee up to rest beside the carrier's side.

“Feels good..” Baekhyun giggled, pressing his fingers to his mouth shyly and feeling childish with his giggles as he placed a hand on the others knee. 

Chanyeol grinned, “You’re silly,” He murmured, bringing his scissors out and beginning to trim the deep brown locks, “And I think any haircut will look good, but I want to get it out of your face so I can see it more.” 

Baekhyun chuckled as he pulled his knees up close to his chest, “You're so nice to me.” 

“Mhm? Should I not be?” 

That wasn’t the issue, the issue was Baekhyun felt Chanyeol was _so_ nice to him and didn’t want him to be nice to anyone else.

It was an irrational thought given nobody was in this area but them, and the chances of finding someone as kind as Chanyeol was slim to none. 

Before Baekhyun could reply, he suddenly heard the animals outside start freaking out - the cows were making distressing noises and chickens chirping extremely loud.

Chanyeol made a confused noise at his spine before he realized what was happening.

Because one second nothing was happening, and everything was still, and the next the house was _shaking._

Baekhyun screamed, ripping himself out of Chanyeol's arms and flipping onto the floor to cover his head.

_“Baekhyun! No! No!”_

The carrier sobbed, curling into a ball as he heard things dropping off shelves.

There was the sound of glass shattering somewhere and Baekhyun wailed harder until he felt an arm going under him and yanking him up into a firm chest.

He cried harder - _what was Chanyeol doing?_ You weren’t supposed to move during an earthquake let alone these ones that could last so long and progressively would get worse.

But he didn’t have time to question it before he was being dropped onto the bed in the next room over, he didn’t move at all simply crying as he allowed Chanyeol to manipulate them in the bed so Baekhyun was under the blankets and a pillow on his head.

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun latched onto the other's sleeve, pulling himself closer to the man.

Chanyeol seemed like he knew exactly what he was doing, laying on his stomach and pulling the blankets and pillows over both of their heads, like he’d done this a million times.

_He probably had._

“Hey, you’re okay, sh. You’re okay,” The man soothed, shushing softly and shuffling closer in order to make out Baekhyun’s face under the darkness of the covers.

The carrier didn’t deem it close enough and squirmed until his head was under Chanyeol's chin, lying on his stomach partially beneath the man and holding his hands to his mouth as he cried in fear. 

“Angel, you’re okay..” He heard against his neck, hot breath against the left side of his face that caused him to whimper and snuggle closer, blinking tears down his face as he met Chanyeol's eyes. 

“You’re okay, silly.” Chanyeol murmured, adjusting his grip to hold a pillow to the back of his head and one to Baekhyun’s, wrist resting just below the other's jaw. 

“Just look at me, I’m not scared. Don’t be scared. It’s not the earthquakes that hurts us, it’s the things falling, and we’re okay. We’re okay. Just look at me.”

***

The window broke.

The window Baekhyun was sitting in not even twenty four hours before was broken and he cried even though it wasn’t his fault.

Now, he was sitting in it again but now there was nothing to see, because he had to tape a cut up trash bag over it until they could figure out what to do. 

It was so sad.

Other than that, nothing was too damaged. The house was mostly in disarray. 

He and Chanyeol had cleaned up a lot of random things like cups scattered about and the vegetables Baekhyun was going to make into a stew later.

The fridge had been wide open and it had caused a lot of items to come out and a mess of leftovers and supplies. 

For some reason, it made Baekhyun more upset that Chanyeol's movies had been broken - not all of them, but some of them.

His television set was okay but that was probably because Chanyeol had it mounted down to the built in bookshelf in the wall. 

It still upset him, because those movies kept Chanyeol a lot of company for a _long_ time, even if he had hundreds of other movies to choose from. Each of them were special to Chanyeol, so they were special to Baekhyun too.

All of the chickens but two were accounted for but that likely had to do with the fact one of the cows had gotten scared and stomped the chicken pen and the wires had to be reworked with pliers.

But Chanyeol made that seem easy just as he made it seem easy to sweep up the glass and pick up items. He laid a reassuring hand on Baekhyun’s spine when the carrier began to get worked up at the mess.

It’d been a long time since Baekhyun had been indoors when an earthquake happened, and it _was_ better than when he was on the run because the last earthquake that happened he’d hid in the backseat of a car and the car had started moving which scared the carrier even more.

The only _real_ good thing that came out of the situation was the fact they’d slept in the same bed for the first time ever. 

Baekhyun thought it was good because when he last tried to switch the man and sleep on the couch - because his legs could actually fit comfortably - Chanyeol had been adamant he took the bed and shut him down instantly with a smile.

It really hadn’t been that awkward at all, because Baekhyun had fallen asleep whilst they were simply laying there, the earthquake done but his body felt worn out from all the panicking he’d done.

Chanyeol didn’t seem to think it was right to move away, because he just continued to let him hide under his chest and the only adjusting he’d done was pulling the blankets back so they could breathe easier, but he hadn’t moved away. 

Baekhyun knew they should acknowledge it - _the tension_ \- but as it was right now he was fine to just be close to Chanyeol, because it’d been a long time since he felt so comfortable and safe in his own skin. 

And with Chanyeol shadowing him, his form standing tall beside him, and paired with his dimpled smile and sweet words - Baekhyun was so comfortable. More comfortable than he'd been in ten years. 

“Baek.” Chanyeol called quietly behind him.

The carrier hopped off of the window, rubbing his eyes as he walked towards the living room, blinking tiredly at the lights. 

Baekhyun frowned a confused noise as he spotted Chanyeol sitting on a blanket on the living room floor. 

Chanyeol sent him a lopsided smile and put out a hand for him, “We missed dinner yesterday,” He whispered, motioning towards a pot of rice and vegetables.

They had dinner together every night , this wasn’t any different, except it _was._

Because normally they ate together on the couch watching some cheesy kids movie that Chanyeol claimed to have seen a million times - and Baekhyun didn’t doubt the claims.

Not on a blanket on the floor with a bottle of champagne, not with Chanyeol sending him a soft and nervous smile like he had a question sitting on the tip of his tongue that he couldn’t get out.

He eyed Baekhyun with his hand held up hopefully, other hand fiddling with the bottle. “The bottle got cracked so I figured we should drink up.” Chanyeol murmured, but Baekhyun could see that wasn’t the truth because the bottle wasn’t leaking at all and Chanyeol's face was light red.

Baekhyun touched his short hair nervously - not used to it being so short and being unable to hide behind it. 

Baekhyun shuffled as he moved his bangs out of his face before laughing softly and smiling as he accepted the hand nervously, “Yes.” 

He wasn’t agreeing to the drink or dinner, certainly not, and he knew Chanyeol understood that because he released a very loud and relieved breath and laughed.

Baekhyun then laughed _too_ and soon enough they were both laughing like nervous teenagers as the carrier sat down beside him, leaning over to start plating their food with his ears blaring. 

“Is it okay?” 

Out of the two of them Baekhyun didn’t consider himself nearly as confident as Chanyeol, but in this subject the man didn’t sound as confident as normal, but instead he sounded nervous.

“I don’t want to scare you off,” Chanyeol added shyly, knee touching Baekhyun’s as they both sat cross legged on the blanketed floor. 

The carrier felt overwhelmed at the man's thoughtfulness, swiping his tongue across his lips before turning to face him and shaking his head, “You're not scaring me off at all.. maybe.. maybe the opposite..” 

Chanyeol deflated with relief, his handsome and soothing smile appearing on his lips as he turned and started fiddling with their glasses. 

“I just.. I think you’re.. you came to me for a reason and.. I can’t help but feel like.. like I want you to be something more than just my housemate.. if I’m rambling again then you can ignore me, because I _know_ it gets annoying but I just think you’re very brave and beautiful and you’ve learned so quickly I can’t wait to see how things -“

“Chanyeol.” Baekhyun giggled bashfully, “I think you’re beautiful _too.”_

Their date was spent in mostly silence with them watching the television and very nervously sneaking glances.

Baekhyun knew they were ridiculous, they were both in their twenties and acted like teenagers. He felt ridiculous with the amount of smiling he was doing, but couldn’t help it.

“Have you ever done this?” 

_“Me?”_ Chanyeol laughed and shook his head, “Of course not.” He paused for a second before shyly adding, “Have you?” 

Baekhyun shook his head and turned to grab his wine glass, his cheeks flushed pink from alcohol, but he felt perfectly fine. “No, I mean… like.. I’m not _new_ to like… I mean, I’ve never had a date, no.”

“But uh…” Chanyeol cleared his throat and wrapped his arms around his knees, “You’ve done.. stuff before? Ah, I have no filter when I’m drinking, I’m so sorry-“

“I _have.”_ Baekhyun swallowed, “I mean, when I was on the run… I hid out with my friend after my parents… like… _yeah._ And I was really scared of.. of my first time being really… being um… _forced._ So we just.. had sex, but I don’t know - it wasn’t anything - I was really scared because… since, you know, I’m _me,_ it’s difficult to not care about getting pregnant in this world.” 

“Ah.” 

Baekhyun looked up at him while tapping a finger on his glass, licking his lips, “What about you? I mean, you’ve been here for a long time… so..”

“Oh,” Chanyeol laughed and pushed his hair out of his face, “It's stupid. You don’t want to hear about it.” 

Baekhyun whined and reached over to push his knee, “Hey, I just told you something embarrassing! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!”

Chanyeol chuckled and his ears turned red as he scratched the back of his neck. “Fine! Fine, but don’t laugh, okay?” 

“I’m a very serious person, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun lied, pressing his lips together, “I _never_ laugh.” 

“You laughed at a bird flying into the barn door earlier, Baek.” 

Baekhyun giggled to himself at the reminder, “Don’t try and change the subject!” He complained. 

Chanyeol laughed and grabbed his hand before the carrier could deliver a smack to his leg, snorting at Baekhyun’s pouty face. “Yah! Fine! You’re an aggressive drunk!” 

“I’m not even drunk,” He pouted.

“Do you want me to tell you or not?” 

Baekhyun placed an innocent smile on his face, beaming dramatically at him. “I’m listening!” 

Chanyeol looked more nervous when Baekhyun was looking at him like that, glancing down at his hand that was _still_ holding Baekhyun’s hostage, but he didn’t remove his hold, he just cleared his throat.

“Well, okay… so, I’ve met some people before… like I’m not _completely_ innocent. I’ve done things,” Chanyeol muttered. “But like.. it’s.. it's just disrespectful. Like, sleeping with someone that I don’t _care_ about. I guess I’m just… a bit old fashioned, like… remember those days when the church used to tell people not to have sex before marriage? It’s hilarious to think about now…” 

Baekhyun looked at him for a moment with contorted brows, “Why did you think I would laugh at you?”

“I’m a virgin, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol snorted, “I’m practically a hermit, I rarely ever go to town, I actively avoid looking for people, I just like to-“

“I think you’re doing amazing,” The carrier cut him off with a soft smile and squeezed his fingers, “I think that it’s really admirable of you, and that it’s very sweet. I don’t think you understand just how much it means to me to hear you say that… I mean.. nearly every man I come across these days just wants to hurt me…”

“You shouldn’t find me admirable for not wanting to assault you, Baekhyun.” 

Baekhyun shrugged a little, because it was what it _was -_ just like how it was dangerous outside, and how it could be dangerous inside, and how any moment they could both be stuck with lightning and drop dead - it _was_ what it _was,_ and they couldn’t change it. 

The world wasn’t going to change for them, but maybe they could change for the world. 

“For the record,” Baekhyun smiled, “I think you’re doing amazing at this dating thing. Better than me in fact.” 

“Really?” Chanyeol's eyes brightened up a little, he laughed sheepishly, “I learned from a lot of movies. I remembered that couples have picnics sometimes, but it was too dark out to do that, so.. here we go.” 

“Oh really?” The carrier giggled and shifted a bit closer so his hip brushed Chanyeol’s, “I only remember this one movie, I think it was a kids movie, where they went horseback riding. I used to bug my mom to take me to see a horse in real life, ah… she hated it!”

They both laughed and Baekhyun played with Chanyeol’s fingers over his knee, a bit dazed from the wine and both of their lips stained red.

_“I have an idea!”_

Baekhyun gasped in surprise before laughing as Chanyeol pulled him to his feet, nearly knocking over the pot of stew on the floor in his rush for stand up.

“Chan!” Baekhyun shrieked, laughing and latching onto his arm, “Chanyeol! Yeol!” 

“I have an idea!” Chanyeol repeated yanking him to the front door and letting go to grab shoes from the shoe rack, “Put these on!” 

“These are so big on me,” Baekhyun laughed and shook his head as he slipped Chanyeol's worn boots onto his feet, “Let me get mine from the bedroom-“

_“No time!”_

And there was that arm grabbing his hand again, making Baekhyun’s eyes water with laughter as Chanyeol pulled him out of the door.

“Ah, it’s cold!” He whined, wrapping his arms around Chanyeol's, snuggling up to him seeing as he was being yanked away anyway.

Chanyeol rubbed Baekhyun's bare arm as he pulled him across the yard towards the barn.

The carrier laughed in surprise as Chanyeol pulled him inside the barn, turning to turn on the Christmas lights that lined the inside of the place.

Immediately the four cows inside started up.

“You guys already got food!” Baekhyun scolded, nearly tripping over a pile of hay on the floor as Chanyeol tugged him into the first stall.

Gracie was an older cow. Chanyeol said he found her first, about four miles away from town, and that she’d practically come running at the sight of a person.

That’s probably why Chanyeol favored her a bit.

“Come here.” Chanyeol called, pulling Baekhyun closer to the side of the cow.

Baekhyun snorted, a bit wobbly on his feet as he pet her brown fur, “Hi mama cow. Are you going to give us babies anytime soon?” 

“Not likely, she’s too old, but maybe Sammie will.”

Baekhyun hummed and scratched behind her ear, head cranked up to look at her as she ate a mouthful of hay with little to no interest in them.

He suddenly felt hands grabbing his hips and gasped, scrambling to grab the cow. _“Chanyeol!”_ Baekhyun yelled, forced to throw a leg over her back, leaning over to hug the cow's neck because this was _really_ high for someone slightly drunk now that the wine had time to swim through his body. 

“Look! It’s just like a horse!” Chanyeol laughed and stood in the doorway of the stall, “She just moves a lot less!” 

Baekhyun began to giggle his head off.

***

Time began to run faster.

But Baekhyun was confused about one thing and one thing only.

_Did it count as dates if you just did everything together all of the time anyway?_

It was a silly thought he kept having while he and Chanyeol did things throughout the days, while they were doing chores and switching off laundry and animal feeding days.

It was just a mindless and passing thought even though he found life much more enjoyable since they’d indirectly but _directly_ gotten past the jump of tension. 

Things went smoother than before, they were much more open and willing to speak more freely and overall just had a better time together.

“Baekhyun! I got it! I found it!”

Baekhyun cackled as he leaned over the porch railing, hands on his cheeks as he watched Chanyeol stumble through the mud just to collect one of his wind chimes that got blown off in a harsh storm. “Be careful, Yeol! Be careful of-“

 _Too late,_ he watched the long legged man go perching backwards into the mud and couldn’t help his instant laughter, scrambling to run out off the porch, “Yeol!” 

Chanyeol just huffed and sat up with a disgruntled expression, mud all the way up his back and in his hair as Baekhyun made it to him, the smaller giggling - weak kneed - down at him. 

“I _still_ got it!” The man pointed out, shaking the ornament.

Baekhyun cackled, “You’re going to get mud everywhere, Yeollie!”

With a small pout, Chanyeol put a hand up as if he needed help and in hindsight Baekhyun should have realized it was a trick because he was only three fourths the man's size, but it was more an immediate reaction to grab Chanyeol’s offered hand.

He didn’t expect a face full of mud but once it came he could only whine and laugh at how his entire front was now _covered_ as he laid over Chanyeol's lap in the mud.

“Gross!” He whined, twisting to smack Chanyeol's arm as the man continued laughing at him.

Baekhyun pouted and rested a hand on Chanyeol's chest as he tried to stand back up, but the mud was slippery and as soon as he thought he found his footing he slipped again only this time to go smacking down directly utop the other.

Forehead to forehead and nose to nose, Baekhyun froze as he felt the warmth of the man's breath against his mouth, Chanyeol’s laughter against his lips before the man realized the situation and was freezing.

They both sat there for one moment before Chanyeol's dimple came back onto his cheek, “Are we supposed to kiss now?”

Baekhyun laughed, debating on telling the other he’d ruined it but instead grinned, “Smooth, Yeol. Real smooth.” 

Chanyeol chuckled but the mud didn’t stop him from grabbing the back of Baekhyun’s head to press a tender kiss onto his mouth, movement slow and careful.

It was an unfamiliar feeling. Baekhyun sighed even though he felt all kinds of disgusting with mud on his clothes and skin, hand coming to cup Chanyeol's cheek and angle their lips together better.

There was no such thing as an explosion, or fireworks going off from their kisses.

It was better than movies claimed because it was so comfortable and relaxed that Baekhyun didn’t feel uneasy at all, even though it’d been years since he’d kissed anyone, it’d been years since he’d done anything like this in general.

And he couldn’t recall anything quite as soothing as kissing Chanyeol.

“We should go shower now,” The man whispered against his mouth, hands resting on Baekhyun’s waist and not meaning his words much if his hands tightening said anything.

“Mhm..” Baekhyun agreed, eyes half lidded as he dipped down for another press of their lips together.

Chanyeol smiled fondly at him, “You're on my lap, angel. I’m gonna have to manhandle you soon if you keep this up.” 

Baekhyun didn’t mind that and just giggled as he surged closer for more kisses. 

***

From then on it felt like they were nonstop affectionate, things continued to flow easy, they slept in the same bed and gave numerous bedtime kisses.

Baekhyun was cleaning up for bed now, digging in the cabinets for a new toothbrush that he knew Chanyeol had boxes of.

The carrier flushed beautifully when he pulled a container of lube out from under the sink, sucking his lip into his mouth in thought as he quickly placed it back and pretended he didn’t notice it.

He wondered if Chanyeol had recently got it or not, if the man had picked it up last he went to loot the city because he’d come back with so much.

Baekhyun smiled at the thought even if it made him nervous. It still flattered him beyond belief.

He didn’t know whether or not they were ready to take that step yet, whether he personally was only for one reason.

_He was a carrier._

There were _many_ more risks, and in this day and age he didn’t know if he could accept the responsibility even if he was twenty six and was growing old.

Either way, he felt it was a sweet thought and called it a night as he walked through the living room towards their bedroom, giggling under his breath at his own finding.

“Bedtime?” Chanyeol opened one arm easily, not looking tired at all but Baekhyun knew he’d snuggle with him at least until he fell asleep before going out to binge movies.

Movies made Chanyeol feel like everything was normal in the world. Like things were okay and that they were safe.

Just like the way Baekhyun liked to have backpacks of supplies hidden in the closet, because it gave him some sense of control over what was happening. 

“For me at least, night owl.” Baekhyun teased, crawling into his side to rest against his chest, leeching on because he knew Chanyeol would gently pry him off if need be. 

Chanyeol chuckled, lingering his fingers around Baekhyun’s neck as he cuddled the smaller closer to kiss his head, “You dare to judge me? My own boyfriend?” 

“Of course, Yeollie Pollie.” 

He heard the man snort loudly at that, and giggled too. “God you’re so silly, my little weirdo.” 

Baekhyun smiled and turned his neck to kiss Chanyeol's collarbone softly.

The carrier needed to rest against Chanyeol for a few minutes before he felt overwhelmingly tired, likely due to the menstrations of a palm petting his hair and the warmth.

“You still up?” 

Baekhyun hummed tiredly, tossing his palm across the man's chest in a cute petting motion.

“I want to tell you something.” 

It was late and Baekhyun was tired, but he still found the energy to crack his eyes open and look up at him, blinking sleepiness away while Chanyeol cupped his cheek and kissed his forehead apologetically.

“Sorry, baby, just need to get this off my chest.” 

“Okay, Chan.” The sleepy one whispered.

“Few years ago.. this boy came here. I let him stay for a while and we became good friends. I-I have two reasons for telling you this.” 

Baekhyun’s brows furrowed as he sat up a small bit. He hadn’t ever considered that Chanyeol had someone else here before. 

“One, because I don’t want you… to think that maybe I just want _you_ because you’re here. That’s not true, not at all because I never once thought that, and I never once tried to get into a relationship with Sehun because I didn’t want to, and I want _you.”_

It was hard to really process so tired, but Baekhyun still grinned and pressed his lips under Chanyeol’s jaw to kiss blindly, “Want you too,” he whispered.

Chanyeol pecked his cheek affectionately, eyes overwhelmingly fond. “But secondly, I want you to know that he told me of a bunker near here. It has survivors and I’m not.. I’m just saying I once told you I had a plan. And I want you to know that if something ever happens here that I wasn’t lying and I’ll take care of you.” 

“I never _didn’t_ believe you, Chanyeol.”


	2. Chapter 2

The television was really loud tonight. 

Baekhyun woke up partially groggy from the noise, rolling over with a sigh to check the clock on the wall.

_3 A.M._

He groaned and stretched his arms over his head, playing with the tips of his hair.

Baekhyun rolled out of bed with tired eyes, grabbing a blanket off the bed to drag behind him into the living room. 

Normally Chanyeol was _really_ good about keeping the volume down, but sometimes he just seemed to forget, and that was okay, because sometimes Baekhyun forgot where he was _too._

Sometimes he'd have nightmares and wake up expecting to be lying in the back of a bumpy truck bed, or on a sidewalk, because he’d slept in those places before - anywhere that was hidden was good enough for him. 

“Chanyeol,” He mumbled, frowning as he noticed the couch empty, and remote shoved against the arm of the couch, making the volume button stay pressed up.

Baekhyun quickly turned it down, internally glad that Chanyeol’s television set was old so it couldn’t go too loud.

As soon as the volume was lowered there was the sound of what he thought was heavy wind outside, and the front door was cracked.

“Baby…” Baekhyun pushed the door open and frowned as he peered outside of the door.

“Oh!” Chanyeol was sitting on the porch, smiling wide, “Hey, good morning.” 

“It’s not morning yet,” Baekhyun argued, but laughed a bit.

“Oh? It’s not?” The man frowned for only a second before reaching over to pull his blanket, “Come look at this.” 

Baekhyun let himself be tugged out of the door, climbing onto the bench just outside the door to slump into Chanyeol’s side. 

The man's hand came to rub his back under the blanket. “Look. It’s happening again.” 

The carrier hummed, pressing his cheek against Chanyeol's shoulder, following his pointed finger out towards the forest. Well, technically it was _over_ the forest.

There were a handful of white, nearly orange lights flying down towards the Earth, the tails of the light pointed up into the sky. 

“How close do you think they are?” Baekhyun asked, eyes locked on the meteor shower, because every time he saw one it seemed like they got closer and closer, almost oranger everytime with how much heat they were giving off.

One day would they get so close to them that they would get hit? 

Baekhyun had seen the holes the meteors could cause, and he knew… it would be a horrible way to go.

“Not close enough to us, that’s all that matters,” Chanyeol mumbled, bringing a large palm to smooth Baekhyun’s hair down, “They’re kind of beautiful, don’t you think?”

“You find something that could kill us beautiful?”

“We could also die choking on dinner any night, Baek. We should find _something_ beautiful, if not… then why did we bother living for this long?”

“You say that like we have a choice in living.” 

_“Don't we?”_

Baekhyun swallowed, turning his head to grab Chanyeol’s cheek and look at him. _Really_ look at him. 

His jaw was a bit stubbly right now, probably because they were running low on razors because there were two of them that needed them. 

Chanyeol had a small scratch on his chin because he’d accidentally jabbed himself with chicken wire yesterday, but Baekhyun was pretty sure he’d only complained so that he would clean it for him.

“I’m not going to say that I don’t still think about things like that,” Baekhyun whispered, thumb pressing to the corner of Chanyeol’s mouth, “Because we both know it would be so much easier, right? It would be _so_ incredibly easy to die now - and we could choose how, we could make sure it wasn’t painful - but… I don’t know, I like the thought of trying for a little longer.. just to wait it out… I’m not optimistic like you, Yeol. You know that. But you make me want to be. I’m not going to say something _stupid_ and claim that you’ve made me want to live, because if something ever happened to you.. then I wouldn’t want to live, but I’m going to keep it simple and tell you that you make me want to be hopeful.”

“It wouldn’t be stupid if you say that,” Chanyeol furrowed his brows and dropped a hand to Baekhyun’s waist, rubbing his side through his pajamas, “I want you to want to live, but I don’t lie to you… so I’m not going to tell you I haven’t thought of it, but I _am_ glad to be alive now. Because I promised to take care of you, and I promised to try my best, and if I don’t do those things then I feel _worthless_ \- it’s crazy, right? Like… I could have left with Sehun, I could have had so many people around me… he gave me a map, and I just.. I just locked it away, because even the _thought_ of meeting people didn’t make me feel better. But I feel worth something now.” 

“Chan,” Baekhyun laughed and brushed his hair back behind his ear, “I’m sure there are other carriers inside that place, you could baby them and worry all you like about them. You don’t have to-“

 _“No,”_ Chanyeol chuckled and shook his head as he pulled Baekhyun partially in his lap, petting over his naked legs as the carrier blushed at his shorts pushed up. But, like always, Chanyeol didn’t even look. “They aren’t you. I don’t want to just worry over _anyone,_ Baekhyun. I want to worry about you, who has been running so long, who has heard things they shouldn’t hear, _done_ things they shouldn’t have to. I want to care for _you,_ because you deserve it… and honestly.. I get so mad thinking about these people that have just been hunkered down and sheltered since the beginning - while you were out _there, scared._ I wonder if you ever came across someone and they had a camp and they just never offered…”

“I would’ve been another mouth to feed, it’s not like that out there,” Baekhyun muttered, “Chanyeol, I’ve _killed_ people, I-I’ve killed a person just for stumbling on me when I was sleeping - I didn’t _ask,_ I just stabbed him… I-I don’t even know if he was bad, but in the moment I was so scared I just left everything and ran and he just _died._ ” 

Chanyeol wrapped his arms around Baekhyun, no response, and Baekhyun wasn’t crying - he _couldn’t_ cry, because if he cried over that stranger then he had to _feel,_ and if he did that then he had so many emotions to feel and so many victims to feel guilty over.

That’s just the way it was. 

And part of Baekhyun was still envious because Chanyeol got to hide out here, but that only reminded him of the trip to town and how many times Chanyeol had to encounter things like that… or how many people stumbled onto his farm and Chanyeol had to _take care_ of them too…

He knew Chanyeol couldn’t be innocent. Nobody was unless they were sheltered, and Chanyeol was, but he _wasn’t._

A small amount of exposure was _still_ exposure. And it could still add up.

“Let’s just agree to take care of each other, angel.” 

Baekhyun nodded fast and leaned up to press their lips together, because giving affection to Chanyeol let him feel like he had control of one thing that was going on. 

***

Baekhyun cracked his eyes open at the feeling of a hand touching his face and smiled tiredly when a kiss was placed onto his cheek.

He mumbled incoherently as he grabbed around the back of Chanyeol's hair and opened his eyes.

Chanyeol had one of the most beautiful smiles he’d ever seen, even before all of this, and Baekhyun would forever stick to that train of thought as he leaned up to press a few pecks onto his mouth.

“Cuddly this morning.” 

The carrier hummed, scratching the nape of Chanyeol's neck before laying back with a smile, “You trying to kiss me while I’m sleeping?”

Chanyeol laughed, pressing a kiss to Baekhyun’s temple before getting off the bed.

Baekhyun noticed he was partially dressed and frowned, rolling onto his side to watch him and pulled the blanket under his cheek, “Where are you going, baby?”

“I’m going to.. butcher one of the chickens. I know you don’t like to think about it, I’m sorry.” 

Baekhyun didn’t like to think about it, but truthfully he didn’t have much of a choice and would rather do so than not have real food.

Meat was literally a heaven send now and he had it every day so he couldn’t really complain - even if it grossed him out.

He sat up on his elbows, scooting against the headboard to rub his eyes, “Let me make you breakfast first.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Chanyeol laughed, “Go back to sleep, my love.” 

Baekhyun sucked his bottom lip into his mouth at the nickname, tossing the blanket from his lap to crawl to the end of the bed and tug the back of Chanyeol's shirt needily.

The taller of the two laughed, turning around with an armful of clothes to change into, but it seemed he wouldn’t be doing so anytime soon as Baekhyun wrapped arms around his waist.

“You can’t just say things like that and walk out.” 

Chanyeol looked confused for a moment before flushing pink as if only now realizing what he’d said, licking his lips with a shy grin.

Baekhyun giggled quietly and tugged on his pajama shirt until he was able to cup Chanyeol’s face and press kisses to his mouth again, deeper kisses than normal.

“My love,” Baekhyun mused against his lips, pressing his smile into Chanyeol's with dewy eyes, “I like it. Say it again.” 

_“My love, Baekhyun.”_

The carrier giggled before yanking him down on top of him, wrapping legs tight around his waist and pressing giggly kisses into his jaw.

“Ah, what’s with this mood!” Chanyeol laughed but didn’t move away for even a moment as the other kissed him. “Are you just going to hold me hostage all day?”

“Just a bit longer, Channie.” Baekhyun giggled and surged up for more kisses.

***

“It’s getting too chilly out for tomatoes,” Baekhyun commented, moving his basket of veggies closer to himself.

“I hope a storm isn’t coming through,” He heard Chanyeol comment from outside of the garden, “Last time I nearly lost all of my chickens, it just scooped them up.” 

Baekhyun furrowed his brows and wiped his dirty palms on his thighs as he looked up at Chanyeol in thought.

It was odd that they hadn’t had any _major_ storms pass through yet, mainly they got very wild earthquakes, but the weather hadn’t been too bad lately.

“It hasn’t rained yet.” 

Chanyeol frowned and leaned over the fence for the heavy bucket of veggies Baekhyun had pulled up, “It hasn’t all year really.” 

Baekhyun blanched and licked his lips nervously.

“Yeol, that’s not good. It’s going to be so bad when it hits.” 

***

_“The power! No, no, the power!”_

“Baby, calm down,” Baekhyun was in utter shock at how freaked out Chanyeol was acting - it was just some rain, and while _yes_ it was loud and _yes_ it was a lot, they were safe inside of the house. 

The farm was on a slope so it would all roll off into the river about a quarter mile downhill. 

The lights flickered once more before they finally went out, and Baekhyun was more concerned than amused at Chanyeol's scared noise.

“Hey…” He shushed gently, coming around the couch with squinted eyes, blindly feeling for Chanyeol’s back, “Baby, calm down, it’s just a storm-“

Just as he was dying that something shattered out on the porch, probably one of Chanyeol’s many ornaments that lined the house. 

“Baek-“

“Oh my goodness, you big baby,” Baekhyun laughed and felt along his face before taking a seat in his lap, leaning close until they were nose to nose and able to see each other. “You didn’t tell me you were scared of the dark.” 

“I’m _not,”_ Chanyeol murmured, eyes blow wide, “I’m scared of the silence.” 

That caught Baekhyun off guard, but he wasn’t shocked at _all._ Silence meant being alone, and if the collection of movies Chanyeol always had going said anything, it was that he was impossibly afraid of being alone.

Baekhyun nuzzled into his nose gently, both hands pushing his hair off his face and kissing his lips once, “Do you have that flashlight on you still?” 

As if he’d forgotten, Chanyeol jolted to feel around the couch for the big flashlight they’d used to put all the chickens into the barn a few hours before.

But as quick as they’d gotten back inside Chanyeol had planted himself on the couch and begun to worry.

Baekhyun was awfully concerned how horrible storms must have been when he really was _alone._

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” Baekhyun cooed with a teasing tone when the flashlight lit up the underside of his face and Chanyeol was pressing it into his hand. “Now I can see your pretty face,” He giggled and kissed Chanyeol’s temple before getting off him.

That earned a soft breathy, but nervous laugh.

“I’m getting the lantern from under the sink, okay? Don't have a panic attack, baby. I’m right here,” Baekhyun continued, walking across the house with his light.

“I really hate it, Baekhyun.” 

“I know, I _know,”_ The carrier shushed, bringing the heavy lantern over to the coffee table, “We should just relax, sweetheart.” 

Chanyeol didn’t look like he wanted to relax, he just looked anxious, but the man did look calm down a bit when Baekhyun turned the light on and took a seat on the couch.

“Come here, baby,” Baekhyun murmured, turning off his flashlight and reaching over for Chanyeol.

The man plopped his head right down onto Baekhyun's thighs, sighing and staring at the lantern.

Baekhyun couldn't believe Chanyeol was this distressed over the silence, but then again Chanyeol was a _loud_ person.

He could hear Chanyeol at every moment of the day - Chanyeol hummed songs as he fed the chickens, he had the television loud most of the time, he sung in the shower, and when he simply walked around Baekhyun could hear his heavy steps across the wood floors.

But he didn’t mind it. He never minded Chanyeol being loud.

“Feel better?” Baekhyun mumbled, leaning over to peck Chanyeol's cheek, brushing fingers through his hair, “Want me to talk to you?”

Chanyeol hesitated for a second before nodding a bit, seemingly embarrassed. 

Baekhyun didn’t mind it at all, he'd had incidents twice as bad as Chanyeol being uncomfortable in silence.

“What do you want me to say, Chanyeol?” He whispered gently, breath fanning Chanyeol's cheek, “Do you want me to tell you something? What do you want me to tell you, sweet baby.” 

“Just keep talking. I like your voice.” 

_Well I like you,_ Baekhyun mused, but instead he just pressed a gentle kiss to Chanyeol’s temple.

***

Baekhyun _really_ hadn’t meant for this to happen, but he could only stare wide eyed at Chanyeol, holding his towel around his waist and fishing for any words.

Chanyeol had dirt on his brow, sitting patiently on the couch, looking at him wide eyed, smiling dropping in shock.

They slept on the same bed. They lived in the same house.

And yet they’d _never_ changed in front of each other. 

Chanyeol sometimes went around shirtless, and sometimes Baekhyun caught sight of him scurrying off into the bedroom with a towel around his waist.

But _he_ never did it.

Because in the beginning he was still sheltered, defensive, he was wary about being around Chanyeol.

But now… now he didn’t care much at all. 

_“Hi!”_ Baekhyun squeaked, yanking his towel tighter around his hips. “I thought you were outside getting the cows more water.” 

“I-I wanted to watch a movie first… with you…” 

“Oh! Then I’ll just.. yeah…” Baekhyun shuffled towards the bedroom with a blush on his cheeks, licking his lips. “Change? Uh… let me change and I’ll be back-“

_“Wait.”_

Baekhyun swallowed hard and looked through his bangs nervously as Chanyeol stood up, both hands holding his towel.

“We should stop um… skirting around like teenagers,” Chanyeol commented but the red of his ears gave away how nervous he was as he walked closer.

The carrier gulped down his anxiety about being so close to someone so underdressed, because this was _Chanyeol_ and Chanyeol would sooner faceplant over his own feet than sexualize him if he didn’t want to be sexualized. 

His body wasn’t much different than another man’s, he had broad shoulders and the same lower parts too.

But, he _was_ different. He had a womb, he stored fat differently - he had a little pouch of a belly and thicker thighs and legs than another man - _especially_ compared to Chanyeol who worked so hard for his muscular arms and torso.

Baekhyun wasn’t uncomfortable, not really. Because Chanyeol was looking at him like he was _incredible_ despite the little belly he’d gotten since he’d been here, no longer running so much that he was all skin and bones, and despite his nose being sunburnt and gathering freckles. 

“You’re so pretty.” 

“Thank you…” Baekhyun licked his lips and cranked his head up to look at Chanyeol, “You don’t think… I’m like… a bit chubby? I-I’ve been spoiled since coming here. How long has it been? Eight months? Ah, I should start-“

“Oh shush,” Chanyeol laughed and leaned down to press their lips together, hand covering the entirety of Baekhyun’s cheek, thumb petting beneath his eye.

Kissing was so incredibly _comforting._

Baekhyun never remembered ever wanting to kiss someone as bad as he always wanted to kiss Chanyeol.

He sighed and held his towel with one hand as he reached out to Chanyeol with the other, curling fingers into his shirt and slipping his tongue into Chanyeol’s mouth.

Chanyeol was gentle and pliant and he tasted like apples. He held the carrier's face like it was something sacred rather than as if he _owned him._

Baekhyun was always so scared of that - the thought of being seen as if he was an object rather than a person. 

And Chanyeol always made sure to remind him that he _was just a person._ And in a world like this - one where carriers were few and far in between, and valued by their reproductive abilities, it meant so much to him.

Chanyeol meant so much to him.

Baekhyun smiled against his mouth, giggling a bit and feeling a string of saliva between them as they breathed calmly against each other. 

“I should put clothes on so we can watch a movie.” 

Instantly Chanyeol blushed and pulled back red faced and nervous, “Oh god, yeah, yes, uh.. of course -“ 

“I thought we were done skirting around each other,” Baekhyun added with a soft laugh, _“My love.”_ He teased.

Chanyeol threw himself down onto the couch with searing red ears.

***

Baekhyun was just finishing up dinner, pulling the chicken out of the oven and sitting it to rest on the stove when he heard the animals begin to go insane.

He’d learned fast that animals understood much more than they let on, they’d been the first to let them know of the earthquake, they’d been the first to let Chanyeol know of him on the property.

As much as Baekhyun hated the chickens ugly faces, he did appreciate their nervous, tell-all cackling.

So to say he was _concerned_ was an understatement.

Chanyeol was out there. He was outside and not home and he said he was only going to bring some fresh water from the creek to the animals.

Baekhyun didn’t give a fuck if an earthquake was happening and if the entire cabin was going to fall on him, his _fucking_ boyfriend was out there, at risk of trees crushing him.

 _“Chanyeol! Chan!”_ Baekhyun ran out of the door so fast that the wood door hit the wall of the house with a resonating slam.

He didn’t give a fuck.

Baekhyun rushed through the tree line, making his way towards the creek and stepping barefoot through his own footprints because he’d been out here only a day before collecting plants.

So far the world hadn’t started shaking nor had a storm started so he was entirely confused.

Of course animals wouldn’t get worked up for nothing - although sometimes the chickens got pissed when a crow would swoop down and steal their seeds.

Still, true to his fears, something was going on, and it came in the form of yelling curses and screams.

Chanyeol didn’t curse, well, not unless it was playful - at least Baekhyun had never heard it unless it was teasing and playful whilst Baekhyun tended to have a colorful language.

So hearing _this_ \- seeing this, it was insane for him to see.

_“Fucker! Son of a bitch, don’t ever fucking- you-“_

Chanyeol’s face was bleeding, Baekhyun couldn't pick out where it was coming from because he was soaking wet thus the blood was watery everywhere.

He was knee deep in a creek and at first sight Baekhyun didn’t even pick up why until he looked closer.

A knife was lying on the edge of the creek and Baekhyun’s eyes followed down his boyfriends arms and saw his cracked knuckles bleeding whilst clenched white in some green fabric. A coat, the coat of a man that was being held in the water.

 _Holy shit._ Chanyeol was drowning someone.

“C-Chanyeol, Chanyeol!” Baekhyun wasn’t assuming anything right now, he knew nobody normally came this far and he knew that knife _didn’t_ belong to Chanyeol.

He grabbed it off the ground to shove in his pocket although it seemed Chanyeol had already done enough as there was no movement from the man.

Chanyeol just looked shocked, he was breathing heavily and looked like he almost didn’t recognize him as Baekhyun stumbled down the side of the hill to the creek, his bare feet becoming sore from rocks as he stepped into the water. 

“Baby, babe, hey. Chanyeol, look at me.” 

Baekhyun grabbed his cheeks, brushing the blood from his face to see where it was coming from, it seemed from a crack in his lip although he also had a cut near his eye that looked like it needed attention.

“He- he-h-“ Chanyeol was out of breath, heaving as he sat back against the grassy bank and his pupils were blown. 

“Sh, it’s okay. You’re okay, handsome. It’s okay.” 

“Saw… said - saw you - it’s not safe. No-he was.. trying to go to the house. No. Baekhyun, absolutely not. _No._ Y-you- he…” 

It didn’t take two minds to put it together, and Baekhyun tried not to show his own fears because it wasn’t safe if someone could come this far out. It wouldn’t be safe _ever_ for either of them to go somewhere alone. 

But Chanyeol was traumatized, his hands were shaking and he looked absolutely confused despite knowing exactly what happened. 

He kept spluttering over his own thoughts and was freezing to the bone.

Baekhyun wondered how similar the events could have been to his mother's death, and if that’s why he was so scared.

It hardly mattered, Baekhyun didn’t ask him anything. He was more worried about getting him cleaned up.

***

“You keep giving me doe eyes, baby.” 

Chanyeol just blinked at him again, barely even registering anything at all.

It was relatively easy to get the taller back to the house before dark, to strip him to boxers and dry him off all the while Chanyeol rattled words Baekhyun wasn’t sure he realized he was doing.

He was scared, which was understandable, and of course Baekhyun knew killing people - _other survivors_ \- wasn't a choice they had, Chanyeol knew that too.

But it was the situation that had the larger dumbfounded and staring at him for so long, not moving at all and only leaned over onto his bare knees to allow Baekhyun to clean up his face.

They were close that they were sharing breath in the darkened living room with only a light behind Baekhyun from the kitchen so he could dress the wounds, but Chanyeol looked so out of it Baekhyun didn’t want to move away and scare him more. 

“Take this,” Baekhyun requested, twisting around to grab a few pills from the first aid kit although Chanyeol wasn’t too beat up. 

His lip was swollen and eye a bit puffy with a gash beneath it, the most concerning thing was that Baekhyun could feel a bump on the right side of his head that suggested more serious injury.

It was obvious Chanyeol put up one hell of a fight, and honestly Baekhyun had been too concerned about him to even see if the man in the water had been beaten up or not too.

“Take these for-“ Baekhyun was cut off by a mouth placed on his and released a quiet gasp of surprise, his palm wrapping around Chanyeol's jaw carefully as the other slotted their lips together.

It wasn’t a good idea seeing as Baekhyun could taste blood on his lip reminding him of his injury, but Chanyeol never kissed so frantically, nor so aggressively, a hand around the side of his face in a motion telling him not to go far.

So Baekhyun didn’t, even when he pulled away to breathe, leaving their lips touching and pressing a soft and careful kiss to the swelling at the corner of Chanyeol's lip, eyes shooting open to meet wide, chocolate ones. 

“I’m okay,” He whispered, bringing his hand to Chanyeol's damp hair to smooth it down and also gently touch the knot on his head, “You did so good, Yeol. So good. _So_ good.” 

“Could’ve killed you.” 

Baekhyun swallowed and shifted off of his knees in order to climb up into Chanyeol's chest, he still felt cold as the carrier hadn’t gone far enough to grab him new clothes.

So Baekhyun grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch to pull around Chanyeol’s shoulders as he sat on his thigh. “He could have. But he didn’t, because _you_ didn’t let him. Chan, I’m not going to end up like your mom. She was innocent, had no idea. I do. We _do.”_

Chanyeol didn’t say anything for a moment, his eyes were flooded although Baekhyun saw his pupils were a bit huge still and knew to keep him awake longer in case of a head injury. 

He just fiddled with Baekhyun’s top before the wet fabric of the carrier's bottoms brushed his inner thigh and he tugged at it softly. 

Baekhyun hadn’t even recalled them getting wet but his feet were bright red, wrinkled, and sore from the wall and water. 

It felt too intimate to do this, sit nearly naked with Chanyeol, but Baekhyun brushed it off as a silly thought considering they slept in the same bed every night and were entirely so domestic they got into petty battles over whether cows liked fresh creek water or the rain water better.

He unzipped his pants and kicked them off without much more thought, his top falling over boxers that were a size too big, and curling his feet together beneath Chanyeol's thigh. 

“Baekhyun?” 

Baekhyun hummed, leaning over to grab the television remote because he knew hearing noise calmed Chanyeol down, “You want to watch a movie, Yeollie?” 

_“He was going to hurt you, Baekhyun.”_

The smallers shoulders pulled up uncomfortably, but he continued toying with the television in order to not acknowledge the anxiousness of Chanyeol's knee beginning to shake.

“Said he saw you, was going to rape my bitch carrier and then kill you, Baekhyun. I-I tried to give him a chance to leave - I had to do it. Things aren’t safe here anymore - you.. you said it yourself, they travel in groups. They- there will be more… I can’t.. won’t -“ 

Chanyeol’s heart was too good, it hurt Baekhyun more reading between the lines more than hearing what he was saying because he’d heard things like that before anyway. 

He’d been caught up and tricked by men who looked him in the face and said _look we got a breeding bitch_ so he wasn’t hurt by the words.

He was hurt knowing Chanyeol had to hear these things - had to remember his mother’s death - had to deal with it.

He was upset they were going to have to leave this all behind, because Baekhyun sure as hell wasn't going anywhere without Chanyeol and the grip on his shirt was saying Chanyeol felt the same.

_They were together now._

“Baekhyun. Do you love me?”

Baekhyun felt his stomach clench as he jerked to look at him, his facade of watching the movie was long gone as he gathered Chanyeol's face in his hands and soothed his thumb beneath his swollen lip, “What kind of question is that?”

“A serious one.” Chanyeol rumbled quietly, licking at the corner of his mouth where his lip was puffed and red. 

“I-l-“ Baekhyun scoffed although his mouth was pulled in an entertained grin as he pressed a loud kiss to the others cheekbone, “Don't be stupid. Of course I do. Love you - yes, of course. _Of course,_ Chanyeol.” 

Chanyeol’s mouth spread into a smile, pulling at his lip as he laughed under his breath, “Good. Good. Was.. wondering.”

Baekhyun had the energy for another laugh before grasping his chin to peck his mouth again, rolling his eyes playfully. “I’m like a leech, can’t shake me off, Yeol. Gonna stay with you, where I can cause _all kinds_ of trouble.” 

“Even when we have to leave?” 

Worry flooded Chanyeol's eyes and Baekhyun couldn’t handle the anxiety the man looked at him with.

Baekhyun moved around a lot, he'd been running from everything for years. But it was in order to find safety. 

Nothing ever felt quiet as safe as this. 

“When we have to leave,” Baekhyun whispered, “Then I’ll have to love you _twice_ as much. And when we get to your friend's safe place then I’ll love you _three_ times as much. It’s how it works. Every place we go to can be another place where we fell in love, and it can only add up to more and more.” 

Chanyeol smiled shyly, ducking his head for a second before shifting Baekhyun off of his thigh to lay on the couch, hand clenching onto the bottom of Baekhyun’s top with a questioning look. 

Biting his lip, Baekhyun gave a quick nod and laughed when he found his top being removed quickly, although it only lasted a second before Chanyeol was situating over top of him. 

The timing wasn’t that great considering Chanyeol's lip was injured and painful looking and Baekhyun was scared of putting his hands in his hair and angering his knot, but that was fine.

They were never the best with timing in the first place.

“I’m going to protect you.. as long as I can, Baekhyun.” 

Arguably, Baekhyun didn’t need the protection, but Chanyeol wanted to protect him, shield him. 

He wanted to protect Chanyeol too.

Chanyeol placed elbows above his shoulders and pressed a barely their kiss to his forehead as Baekhyun wrapped legs around the back of his thighs, the fabric of their boxers rubbing together although much warmer than previously. 

“God, I just love you.” Chanyeol whispered in his hair, almost as if Baekhyun wasn’t supposed to hear it at all, pressing into his temple. 

The carrier felt near tears as he scratched nails over Chanyeol's spine down to the top of his boxers, twisting his head to kiss his jaw swiftly. “If we take this risk, you’re not allowed to leave me either.” 

The risk of being with a carrier was high before - so high. But now it was dangerous.

Chanyeol never seemed worried in the slightest, not before. Not now. 

He just pulled back with a wide grin and began to kiss him as if he wasn’t in pain at all.

***

“Where are you going!” 

Baekhyun shrieked as arms wrapped around his waist, giggling and squirming, but this was _Chanyeol_ who was manhandling him - and Chanyeol was double his size and made of pure muscle.

“I wasn’t done!” Chanyeol laughed and nipped at the nape of his neck making Baekhyun laugh hard and kick. 

“You’re a horny teenager!” 

The carrier felt a laugh against his neck before he was tossed back into their bed, chest flushed and the shirt on his body rising up to his belly button to reveal his damp inner thighs.

They were so awkward the first few times - Chanyeol had accidentally tried to go too fast the first time and then nearly cried when Baekhyun said _ow_ when his head hit the arm of the couch - and from then on Chanyeol was such a monster about making sure Baekhyun was okay that the carrier had to physically throw a hand over his mouth to shut him up. But since then they’d been _learning._

It wasn’t exactly practical to have sex every other day, but Chanyeol made it seem so easy. And so _fun._

Baekhyun didn’t remember it being like this or _feeling_ like this, but what did he know? He’d had sex once, nearly ten years ago, with someone he didn’t have an ounce of interest in.

“I wasn’t done,” Chanyeol complained again, tossing himself over Baekhyun’s front to cup his face, “You _said_ I could show you.” 

Baekhyun’s ears went red. “It’s embarrassing.” 

“Oh _quiet, you,”_ Chanyeol scolded, pressing a kiss to Baekhyun’s lips and shimmying down the bed, “You didn’t say that when you had my cock-“

“Yah! Yah! You’re embarrassing! Get on with it then!” 

Baekhyun now understood what Chanyeol meant when he said he’d never had sex but had _experimented._

A feeling of raw jealousy crawled up his throat when Chanyeol kissed his inner thighs and pressed fingers into his entrance - it just made him pouty to imagine Chanyeol doing this to anyone else.

But there was one thing Baekhyun had to himself - Chanyeol had never been with a carrier.

He was amazed by the silky, clear fluid that lined Baekhyun’s canal, and he was now in love with the way he could get him so worked up that it flooded down his thighs.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun whined and pulled his shirt up to his chest, knees spread wide and bucking into the warmth of Chanyeol’s mouth along his thighs, “You’re so impatient, but then want to torture me.” 

“It’s called loving you.” 

“Yeah, well it’s torture for me.”

Chanyeol snickered, pressing his lips against wet left thigh, “It’s good though?”

He sounded a tiny bit nervous, and Baekhyun recognized the nerves immediately, he sat up on his elbow with a frown and reached down to pet his hair, “You're amazing, don't worry, Chanyeol.” 

That brought Baekhyun’s _favorite_ smile back, and for a little it let him forget all of what was going on.

It let him breathe without the black cloud that was hanging over them, and it let him forget that Chanyeol was to go find packing boxes in town tomorrow.

He just forgot everything when Chanyeol smiled at him so handsomely.

“I love you,” Baekhyun whispered, wrapping a hand around Chanyeol's bicep to tug him up to his face. “So if you want to have sex you’re going to have to deal with me latching onto you like a koala.” 

“I like koalas. They’re very cute. Always hold onto me tightly, okay?” 

“You’re so cheesy I want to hit you.” 

“Wow, well that’s rude.” 

***

Baekhyun realized it before he could confirm it.

He began to have to be tired _a lot,_ and then the smell of cooking meat began to make his stomach churn, but now Baekhyun knew what it was.

It wasn’t the best timing, they had so much to pack up, there was a list of things that needed to be done, and Chanyeol had been insisting on going to check out this bunker and make sure it was safe before hauling all their things there, which Baekhyun wasn’t allowing him to do because there were zero chance he would let Chanyeol go hours away alone.

But Baekhyun was the one slowing them down.

Because his pants didn’t fit.

He was slowing them down because of some jeans that he couldn’t button. 

It didn’t seem a big deal at first, until he realized it _was_ a big deal because even _Chanyeol’s_ jeans were fitting him. 

Baekhyun was in a state of shock, as he’d been for the past few minutes, when Chanyeol came into their room with an empty backpack to pack some things.

“What’re you doing slow poke?” A kiss was placed onto his head and Baekhyun barely felt it, but knew it was there. 

“Are you going to put some pants on or just sit there daydreaming, baby?” Chanyeol commented offhandedly, back to Baekhyun.

“Did I gain weight?”

_“Huh?”_

“Did I gain weight?” Baekhyun spluttered, eyes welling up with tears, as his voice became tearful, “My pants don’t _fit.”_

Chanyeol startled instantly, he went wide eyed and spun around to look at him.

“A-And now our room is _empty,”_ Baekhyun cried, nose runny and face turning red, “Because all our stuff is getting _packed_ and it’s so _sad.._ and now I’m _fat!”_

“Baek…”

 _“And!”_ Baekhyun sobbed, looking down at his naked legs, “Now I keep getting sick and I’m throwing up-“

 _“Baekhyun,”_ Chanyeol rushed at him to pick up his chin, a wide grin on his face and laughing as he wiped his tears away, “Do you think you’re pregnant?”

The carrier whined at being laughed at and shoved Chanyeol’s arm a bit before he registered his words and frowned, eyes shooting around.

“Angel,” Chanyeol laughed and climbed to his knees to wrap his arms around Baekhyun’s waist, “My love. Oh my god, oh god-“ His hand traveled under the edge of Baekhyun’s top to feel around his soft belly as the other stayed frozen.

“Hey, I love you, I love you,” The man cooed, sitting up to press a kiss to Baekhyun’s lips, smiling wide, “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay, remember? We knew it was a risk-“

Baekhyun slumped over his shoulder with a shoulder shaking sob, arms enclosing around Chanyeol's neck and crying his heart out.

 _“Oh, angel,”_ Chanyeol smiled and kissed the side of his head, “Are you so happy?” 

Baekhyun had no words, he could only nod.

***

The truck was packed, it was loaded up and full.

As always, Chanyeol was right - there were always more where that man came from

Every night the past two months Baekhyun laid in fear and watched Chanyeol's back as the man sat in the window of their bedroom to watch for flashlights closing in on their home. 

It was finally time to go.

Baekhyun couldn't stand by and watch Chanyeol sleep the daylight away in the windowsill, and he didn’t want to be afraid to walk out and collect eggs or feed the cows.

Chanyeol was arguably more afraid of him stepping out than Baekhyun himself, but that was _expected._

The animal pins were open, and they weren’t sure what their journey was going to be like although Chanyeol had said he’d been once before to bring his friend there.

He hadn’t stayed though, and Baekhyun couldn't say how happy he was Chanyeol hadn’t, because he’d be near death without having met him.

They were taking a few chickens, Baekhyun could see them squawking in the cage in the back of the truck and the cows roaming around obliviously.

They could always come visit. Chanyeol said the safe bunker wasn’t too far from here.

Baekhyun was just going to miss this place so much. 

He was going to miss the television and movies that were boxed up and in the truck - now where they sat was empty. 

He was going to miss having an actual home with Chanyeol, feeling somewhat like a family if only looming danger wouldn’t be felt all the time. 

They’d be okay, because they’d still be together, he was sure of that, but it was just… a big change. 

“Baby?”

Baekhyun hummed but didn't move from his spot looking out the window.

Arms found their place around his hips, large palms splayed across his stomach and thumb massaging over his navel through his shirt. “I know. I’ll miss it too.” 

Baekhyun licked his lips and nodded, tearing his eyes away from the window to face Chanyeol, hands immediately finding place soothing his hair behind his ears. “It’s okay though.” 

Chanyeol smiled, kneeling down when he noticed the carrier standing on his toes to kiss his forehead. 

He sighed, tugging Baekhyun’s hips closer, “It will be. There’s no reason to worry. I promised you safe, and you’ll be safe.” 

The carrier didn’t doubt that, hiding in Chanyeol’s shirt and fingers fumbling anxiously with the largers top, “We haven’t been the most safe lately.” 

Chanyeol frowned and pulled his face from his top to look at him, wondering what he was talking about before he noticed Baekhyun’s palm stroking over his own top and laughed, “That is no danger,” He mumbled fondly, “There is no danger, we’ll go to the bunker and will be safe. They have doctors, they have nurses, no danger, Baekhyun. Absolutely none.” 

Baekhyun sucked in a breath, pressing his forehead into Chanyeol's jaw, “It’s scary, I spent so many years trying to avoid this and.. you changed my mind so easily.” 

“Because I love you, not because of what you are.” 

“I know, that’s scary too.” 

Chanyeol chuckled, pulling Baekhyun with him when he moved to sit on the arm of the couch, the carrier standing between his knees and fiddling with his top. “Not everything is scary.” 

“Being pregnant is scary. Something as simple as a fall could-“

“That’s not what I meant,” Chanyeol hushed him, cupping his cheek, “Plus, when was the last time you’ve fallen? Not since you’ve been here, that’s for sure. I’ve caught you before you nearly rolled out from bed.” 

Baekhyun cheeks blazed red as he smacked Chanyeol's knee and whined, “I’m clumsy, okay?” 

“Okay,” The other snorted, kissing around the soft, chubby curve of his cheek.

Baekhyun used to look so sick when he'd first got here, living off canned goods and chips, but some protein did him wonders and filled out his sparse cheeks and boney shoulders.

Chanyeol adjusted his grip from Baekhyun’s cheek to his waist, feeling along his spine and smiling at the way he felt the carrier jutting his belly forward a bit. 

“Time to go?” 

Snapping from his thoughts, Chanyeol sighed into his hair, wrapping his arm around the back of Baekhyun’s waist to pull him closer if ever possible, making the smaller release a quiet squeak of surprise. “You’re that impatient to leave? Hm?”

“No,” Baekhyun whispered, petting the back of Chanyeol's neck and separating curls with his fingers, “Only impatient for you to get a good night's rest.” 

“Could say the same to you, you think I don’t know when you’re fake sleeping? You make soft noises when you’re sleeping, not when fake sleeping.” 

Whining at being called out, Baekhyun curled fingers into the collar of Chanyeol's top and pressed lips to the tallers, “Stop pointing things out, can’t you just accept when I want to baby you.” 

“You can baby me only until something better comes along,” Chanyeol teased, soothing a palm over Baekhyun’s stomach before sighing and kissing his lips, “Let's get going.” 

Baekhyun sucked in a large breath and nodded, “Yeah. Let’s go before it gets dark.”

**EXTRA**

The truck was very bouncy, everytime they hit a pothole Baekhyun felt it and pouted against the pillow pressed to the window.

He still had a lot more freedom to do what he wanted compared to Chanyeol who’d been driving for hours now.

It wasn’t too far - Chanyeol tried to say that it was about five or so hours away, but his boyfriend was way too cautious and his slow driving was definitely going to make it at least double that distance.

Baekhyun shifted, the long, tan, and lightly stained bench seat of the truck creaked and he brought a hand up to rub his eye as he looked out at the headlights on the road.

It was so dark out; Baekhyun would never drive when it was this dark before all this, his mom was always considered that he - a newly licensed driver - would wreck her car.

The thought made him smile a bit, even if it was a bittersweet feeling he had because of the memory.

Baekhyun turned to look at Chanyeol’s profile. He liked to sing, so the truck had tons of CD’s stacked up, but Chanyeol was keeping the volume to a minimum.

Baekhyun really loved Chanyeol, and his singing, his long rants, even all the countless times he’d spoiled the ending of movies for him. It was so simple now, but in the past the thought of _loving_ or even simply _feeling_ for someone made his hair stand up.

The carrier moved to scoot into the middle area of the bench, cuddling into Chanyeol’s side, earning a bit of a startled look.

“I thought you were getting some sleep, angel. You need it.” 

“Do you want me to feed you some more?” Baekhyun asked softly, kissing his cheek before stretching out on the bench. “You can pull over if you want a nap, baby.” 

“You’re insane if you think I’m going to stop driving until we get there,” Chanyeol chided, tone soft but firm, sparing a glance down at his lap when Baekhyun laid down to press his cheek against the man's thigh. “Not with you. Not with the baby. I’m not tired when I’m thinking about making sure you two are safe.” 

A smile spread across Baekhyun’s face, he wanted to kiss all over Chanyeol’s cheeks for being so cheesy, but he was already being a distraction since he laid his head down onto his thigh.

It was okay, they were the only people on the road, and Chanyeol was driving like a grandpa.

Any other time Baekhyun would tease him for it, but when he turned to lay flat on his back and felt the extra bump on his lower stomach… he didn’t care to tease him for being extra careful.

“Do you think it’s a boy or girl?” Chanyeol asked.

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun grinned, “What do you want to have? A prince or princess.” 

“I honestly and truly don’t even care.” The man muttered as if it took him so little thought to say that, eyes out on the road as Baekhyun snuggled into leg. “Boy, girl, even a _carrier…_ I don’t care, I just want them to be healthy and hopefully grow up happy.” 

The carrier's smile met his eyes, and Baekhyun couldn't help it and turned to hide his face in Chanyeol's lower stomach for a breath before he burst into tears.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Chanyeol worried, bringing a hand to comb Baekhyun’s hair back. “Do you feel sick again? Do you want me to pull ove-“

“I’m going to need you to pull over,” Baekhyun muffled tearfully into his shirt, “Because I’m about to kiss the life out of you, Chanyeol.” 

“Oh… so that means the tears are a good thing, right?”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes fondly and rubbed his wet eyes, “Chanyeol, pull over so I can love on you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still sick. Starting classes again tomorrow. I wrote a ChanBaek hunger games AU, let me know if you’re interested in that


End file.
